First Week ~ The Floors

     After accepting Andy's estimate for the floors (Northwest Hardwood Floors), he set to work the very next day prepping.  Unfortunately there were a few complications involving the grinding process.  Andy had given the floors a test patch with his grinder and we all became aware of just how many times this original ol' Douglas Fir had been sanded down.  The nails were protruding between planks, which meant we either abandoned the idea of using the original flooring and look into laying down a new floor, or we manually hammer in every nail individually.  On top of this issue, there was the old almost plaster-like substance that had been used (who knows how many years prior) to fill cracks between the boards.  This old cracked white colored "stuff" refused to take any stains.  Decisions needed to be made on what exactly we wanted to do, stick with the original flooring and put in the hard work, or spend the big bucks on a brand new hardwood floor.  Regardless, Andy let us know this will be the last and final time this floor will be able to take a grinding.

     After talking everything over with Andy and many phone calls with Missy, we decided we wanted to keep the original floors.  So Mary, Andy, and I set to work chipping away at the grout between the cracks and hammering down nails.  It was hard work, I ended up buying knee pads to try and save myself the pain but it barely helped.  After two days of working section by section, Andy was finally ready to begin the fine sanding/buffing.  After a day of buffing, he began laying down the first coat of a nice amber seal.  We were so impressed by how well it turned out that we worked out another job with Andy.  Missy and I decided to keep hardwood floors throughout the upstairs as well.  As our next project we will remove the old (mauve colored) carpet in the upstairs bedrooms, and have the Hemlock floors underneath receive the same treatment as the downstairs.  Can't wait!

This is what the floor looked like in the dinning room. Uneven and covered with various stains.

Andy's equipment in the parlor after the first grinding.

After several passes with Andy's German built Panzer floor sander and a buffing with a fine grit mat the first coat of sealer goes on.